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Drug Safety
Published in: Drug Safety 4/2001

01-04-2001 | Review Article

A Risk-Benefit Assessment of Pharmacological Therapies for Hirsutism

Author: Dr Enrico Carmina

Published in: Drug Safety | Issue 4/2001

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Abstract

In recent years, many new therapeutic regimens for hirsutism have been introduced. This has considerably enlarged the different choices of the physician but at the same time has produced considerable confusion and uncertainty as to what is the best possible therapy for the single patient or for the different pathologies of this condition.
This review presents data on the characteristics, adverse effects and effective dosage for the more commonly used drugs for hirsutism.
In most patients, low doses of antiandrogens (cyproterone acetate, flutamide or spironolactone) are used with few adverse effects and good results in terms of improvement of the hirsutism. Patients with severe hyperandrogenic hirsutism may require larger doses of antiandrogens. In only a few patients, therapy with agents that primarily reduce androgen secretion (mostly a gonadotropin releasing hormone agonist) is needed. In responsive patients, dexamethasone may be used at low doses (associated with an antiandrogen) to prolong the length of the remission. Finally, agents that inhibit 5α-reductase activity (finasteride) may be used as alternative to low dose antiandrogen therapy but the results are often less satisfactory.
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Metadata
Title
A Risk-Benefit Assessment of Pharmacological Therapies for Hirsutism
Author
Dr Enrico Carmina
Publication date
01-04-2001
Publisher
Springer International Publishing
Published in
Drug Safety / Issue 4/2001
Print ISSN: 0114-5916
Electronic ISSN: 1179-1942
DOI
https://doi.org/10.2165/00002018-200124040-00004

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